2 singers carry messages to World Music Festival

The Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra plays at the World Music Festival.

The Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra plays at the World Music Festival. (Courtesy Department of Cultural)

Aaron Cohen,Special to the Tribune

Get your global sonics fix at the Chicago World Music festival

Changing a country takes an immense effort, but the tools can be simple. Singers Emel Mathlouthi, of Tunisia, and Aurelio Martinez, of Honduras, just needed their songs to ignite social transformations. Both are coming to Chicago for the World Music Festival.

Emel Mathlouthi

Mathlouthi was a voice for Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution," which forced the country's dictatorial president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's resignation in January 2011. Mathlouthi was initially surprised at the demonstrations that had started in Tunis that sparked this uprising. But she had also prepared for this movement her entire life.

When Mathlouthi was growing up in Tunis, she absorbed her father's eclectic record collection — jazz, blues, Vivaldi — but also had an affinity for a small community of heavy metal and grunge musicians. And as a young singer, rock matched her growing sense of resentment.

"Most kids, maybe the more sensitive ones, are kind of angry when they're teenagers," Mathlouthi said. "But that was especially the case with living in Tunisia where everyone was pretending that we were OK while everyone knew we were living in a prison. Those different angers melded together in a natural way."

At first, Mathlouthi ignored traditional Arabic music, especially because she saw its women performers presented as passive. But she grew to appreciate Lebanese singer Marcel Khalife and Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. Mathlouthi also encountered a wide range of international musicians — including an Argentine cellist and French trip-hop producer — while she was studying graphic design in Paris about five years ago.

These diverse influences shape Mathlouthi's 2012 debut disc, "Kelmti Horra" (World Village). The title track means "My word is free" and her song "Dhalem" means "tyrant." Her deceptively soft voice, classical-influenced strings and Arabic percussion delivers those sharp lyrics. A Facebook fan page helped popularize her songs among young Tunisians in 2009, but she was unaware of the growing protest movement when her band toured Tunisia during early 2011.

"When we reached the south of Tunisia, I heard that the police were shooting people," Mathlouthi said. "The concert organizer told me not to sing protest songs, but my band and I looked at each other and decided to go for it."

While Mathlouthi is preparing for her first United States tour, she remains engaged with the changes across the Arab world. She says that it will take time for Tunisia to become a full democracy.

"We need to build a new conscience, work on society and bring arts and culture to every little town in our country," Mathlouthi said. "It's hard work, but we need go through with it and be patient."

Aurelio

Aurelio, who just goes by his first name nowadays, grew up in Plaplaya, a remote Caribbean coastal village that is connected to the rest of Honduras via small boats. The title of his new disc, "Landini" (Real World), refers to where canoes dock, but that word is not the only connection to his roots.

Plaplaya, like several similar villages across Central America, is home to the Garifuna, who are descendants of Carib and Arawak Indians and Africans. The Garifuna have their own language (derived from Indian words) and their music vividly reflects that African ancestry.

"The drum is the symbol of our culture and my art," Aurelio said through a translator. "It's at the center of every aspect of our culture. Any activity in the community — spiritual, religious, or entertainment — the drum is always at the center."

Since Aurelio grew up in such an isolated Garifuna community, his ties to that culture became embedded early in his life. The group comprises 10 percent of the Honduran population, and when he left for the city of La Ceiba he encountered discrimination as a member of this minority. Then he met the Belizean Garifuna singer and activist Andy Palacio in the late 1990s and they worked together to bring international attention to their heritage. Aurelio ran for the National Congress of Honduras and became the country's first black representative in 2006.

"I tried to bring attention to international treaties that Honduras signed as they relate to the rights of the indigenous population in the country and tried to convert that to a national law," Aurelio said. "But it was impossible to pass a law that trampled on the interests of the oligarchy in Honduras."

So Aurelio went back to being a full-time musician in 2010. He and producer Ivan Duran have crafted discs that retain the Garifuna language and rhythms, but also feature their own arrangements and such surprising elements as American country slide guitar.

"Garifuna culture has always absorbed different influences over time for its own development," Aurelio said. "We can play just drums all night, but for somebody outside the community, that would be boring. And when we started, this music was off the map and now it stands shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the music of the world."

Boban and Marko Markovic Orchestra: The father and son team of Boban and Marko Markovic lead this dynamic Serbian brass band, which has been winning Balkan awards and touring the world for more than 15 years. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport St. (17+); 8 p.m. Sept. 19, Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave. (18+); 9 p.m. Sept. 20, Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse Ave. (18+)

Minu Pasupathi: As a performer and educator, vocalist Pasupathi is one of the Chicago-area's primary advocates for the classical Carnatic music of south India. Her morning set comes near the conclusion of Ragamala, an all-night celebration of ragas. 7 a.m. Saturday, Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center

For a complete schedule of the World Music Festival, go to worldmusicfestivalchicago.org